Different Sound From The Clan

RELEASE OF THE WEEK WHAT'S NEW IN MUSIC

December 13, 2007

WU-TANG CLAN

8 Diagrams

Street Records Corp.

Trying to coordinate the schedules, and egos, of nine busy rappers is probably equivalent to working an air-traffi-control job without radar in a snowstorm, so it's no wonder that Wu-Tang Clan has managed only five albums since 1993.

The Staten Island hip-hop collective's latest album was more fraught than most. Not only is "8 Diagrams" the first Wu-Tang album since founding member Ol' Dirty Bastard died in 2004, the recording process was marked by public dissent from two other members - Ghostface Killah and Raekwon - who weren't happy with the direction of the album.

It's definitely different from earlier Wu-Tang efforts, and whether that's good or bad depends entirely on what you were expecting. Instead of slashing beats and bone-rattling bass, the album has a gauzier feel that's almost psychedelic at times, and contributors include such unlikely suspects as funk overlord George Clinton and guitarist Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison.

Harrison and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante play on "The Heart Gently Weeps," built around the similarly titled Beatles tune, and Erykah Badu sings the hook in between rhymes by Raekwon, Ghostface and Method Man.

"Life Changes," a tribute to Dirty; and "Stick Me for My Riches" are also slower soul jams, but "8 Diagrams" doesn't consist entirely of diaphanous instrumental textures. "Rushing Elephants" is vintage Wu-Tang, with an insidious horn lick over a steady, hypnotic rhythm and a wealth of deadpan references to sports, pop culture and geology (the GZA mentions pyroclastic flows like he's some kind of volcano buff).

Samples of dialogue from kung-fu movies percolate through the album, which is named for the 1983 film "Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter," there's some old-school record scratching on "Get Them Out Ya Way Pa" and a sample of the tremolo guitar from Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang" anchors "Windmill."

Not only does "8 Diagrams" branch off from earlier Wu-Tang projects, it's different from much of the current mainstream hip-hop landscape - namely, it's not disposable. These songs have deep bones, and though they don't always have an in-your-face immediacy, they're worth revisiting.